Help for Patients / How to

New Patients

If you would like to become a patient, please follow these steps: 

  • Please review the About Us page of this website to see if our focus and capabilities match your needs. 
  • Fill out our secure New Patient Application
  • We can normally respond to your request within a day or two, but please allow up to 1 week for processing.  
  • If we believe that you are a “Fit” for our practice, we will email information allowing you to log into our portal and set up an appointment. 
  • If your situation does not match our practice, we will let you know and may offer suggestions on where to seek care.  
  • If you don’t hear from us in a week, please call and leave a message with our message service. 

After your application is approved, you will receive an email with information about how to log into the clinic portal.   From the clinic portal you can:

  • Make your first appointment
  • Make follow-up appointments
  • Cancel or change your appointment.  
  • Ask medical questions
  • Pay bills
  • Review Labs and encounter notes. 

 

Preparing for your visit

  • Before your appointment, you will receive a text/email from our appointment management service (EPION). A link in the message will let you use your phone or computer to securely check in and supply any information the office needs. 
  • If this is your first visit with us, the system will ask you to provide several types of information. This includes your address, insurance, medical history, and consent to our privacy and billing practices. Please allow 20 minutes or more to collect your information and provide complete answers. 
  • If you are a returning patient, the system will ask you to review and update the information you entered previously. The review/update usually goes much faster than answering the questions for your initial visit. 
  • If your insurance has a co-pay or your account has a balance, the system will ask you to pay it during this pre-visit check-in.
  • Completing these  administrative tasks before your visit helps both the patient and practitioner save time and it allows us to focus on your medical needs when we see you.
  • Please log into the clinic portal a few days before your visit to see if we have requested any special information or asked you to complete lab work before your visit. 
  • If you are a new patient or have significant changes to your insurance or personal information, please bring your insurance cards and your ID (Driver’s license or other)
  • If significant changes to your medical information have not already been updated in the Portal, please bring that information with you.  (Changes to your medical providers, medications, or medical condition.)  
  • If you are a new patient, or have significant changes to your health, you may want to write a brief summary (up to 1 page) to explain your condition and health goals in your own words.  This summary can help guide our discussion during the visit.  
  • If a payment is due, and you have not paid it during the web check-in, please bring the payment with you (card, check, cash). 
  • If you have scheduled an in person visit, please come to our office at 1050 Larrabee Ave, Suite 204.  That is on the second floor of the Larrabee Square building in Fairhaven.  There is no receptionist.  Please check the Office Status sign beside the door.  If it says “Please Knock”, then knock and wait for entry.  If it says “In a Meeting”, please take a seat in the waiting room until it is your turn.  Please respect the other patients and providers in the building by waiting quietly.  
  • If you have scheduled a telehealth visit, you will receive a text/email about 20 minutes before your scheduled visit.  A few minutes before your appointment starts, click the link in the message to open our secure telehealth site.  Answer the questions to confirm your identity and join your visit.    

Using the Patient Portal

  • If you are a new patient, you will receive an email from us with instructions for logging in the first time and setting up your portal account. 
  • If you are an established patient, Click the “Open Patient Portal” link in the top right corner of this webpage, or click here.   Then click the “Log in with Athenahealth” button. Use the user name and password you set up earlier to enter the clinic’s portal.   
  •  If you have forgotten your password, click the “Forgot Password?” button to reset it.  
  • If you still can’t get in, call the clinic and request a portal account password reset.  You will receive an email with instructions for resetting your password and logging in.  
  • To protect your privacy, keep your user ID and password safe.  If you suspect that someone has your portal password, reset it immediately.  
  • Use the instructions above to log into the clinic portal.  
  • If you have an appointment scheduled, it will appear near the top of the welcome page.  Use the “Manage Appointment” button to cancel or reschedule the appointment. 
  • Use the “Schedule Now” button on the home page to add a new appointment. 
  • These options are also available under the Appointments tab on the left hand side of the page.  
  • Log into the portal as described above.
  • Click the messages tab at the very top of the welcome page.  From this window you can review your message inbox, and compose new messages.  
  • Log into the portal as described above.  
  • Near the bottom of the welcome page is information about any balances you may owe.  Click the “Make Payment” button to pay.  
  • Billing history and other features are available under the “Billing and Payments” tab on the left hand side of the page.  
  • Log into the portal as described above.  
  • To review health records, click on the “My Health” tab on the left hand side of the welcome page.   This area of the portal also allows you to download your records or transmit them directly to a third party.  Use caution to protect your privacy when moving your records off of our secure system.
  • To review test results, click on the “Test Results” tab on the left hand side of the welcome page.  

Using the Phone Message System

  • You must be an established patient before you can schedule an appointment. 
  • Dial the clinic at (360) 756-9793.  The answering system will give you several choices.  Established patients should dial “2” when prompted. 
  • The system will ask questions to verify your identity.  
  • When it has identified you, the system will offer several choices for things you can do.  To make, change or cancel an appointment, dial “2”.  
  • At the next menu, follow the prompts.
    • To cancel an appointment, dial “1” 
    • To reschedule an appointment, dial “2”
    •  To make a new appointment, dial “3”  
  • Dial the clinic at (360) 756-9793.  The answering system will give you several choices.  
  • Established patients should dial “2” when prompted. 
  • The system will ask questions to verify your identity.  
  • When the system has identified you, it will offer several choices for things you can do. 
  • To leave a secure message, dial “1”.  Follow the prompts. 
  • Note: By identifying you before taking your message, the system can attach your medical record to your message when it goes to the provider.  This lets the provider make better and faster responses to your request. 
  • Dial the clinic at (360) 756-9793.  The answering system will give you several choices.  
  • Non-patients should dial “4” when prompted. 
  • Follow the remaining prompts.

Other Questions

  • You can download your medical records to your computer, or have them sent directly to a third party through the patient portal.  See the Medical History section under “Using the Patient Portal” above.   Please use caution to protect your privacy when handling your records.
  • If you need specific information, or want help doing the transfer, you can request a release of medical records by completing the Release of Records form and sending it to the clinic.   
  • You can revoke a previous release of records by completing the Revoke Release of Records form and sending it to the clinic.